deja vu

There are four recently posted & active site plan review applications for Kalamazoo. Two are pretty small, and are on the docket for February 03, 2021 - Sunrise Park (1628 E. Main) and 1709 Fraternity Village. The third one - 924 Russell - is the new Edison Environmental Science Academy, and it is on the schedule for February 10. Lastly, a site amendment to Graphic Packaging's massive, ongoing "Project Bronco" at 1810 N Pitcher is on the schedule for February 17. Sunrise Park is the first real, physical manifestation of the ongoing Eastside corridor improvements that have been discussed previously. It will be a small urban park at the corner of East Main and Edwin Ave. There will landscaping & hardscaping features, including outdoor dining tables, bike racks, and artwork - 1709 Fraternity Village has been posted about before. This is the new Frat House proposed near WMU. There are some building elevations included in the site plan packet. It's very - meh - 924 Russell is the site of the planned Edison Environmental Science Academy. The academy currently exists on this site, in a grouping of variously-aged academic buildings that are past their prime. This is actually a pretty exciting project, because it will redevelop the entire block, bounded by Jackson St., Russell St., Lake St., and College Ave. in the Edison neighborhood. The district's old bus garage and bus lot is located on the west half of the site and it will all be removed (KPS recently completed a new transportation facility off of Ravine Rd.). A new 2-story elementary will be constructed. It is a big investment for the district and the neighborhood; part of the ongoing 2018 Bond improvements (nearly $100 million total) - 1810 N Pitcher St. (GPI) is seeking approval for site plan amendments. Though I can't discern exactly what for, it seems related to egress, site access, and fire lanes. The 31 page packet includes plans, elevations, and a rendering that I hadn't spotted before. The rendering is dated 11/04/2020 - I'm glad to see there is more to this than just a big metal box. It looks like there is actually a decent amount of office / administrative space included -

This is barely worth posting, but I just thought I'd submit it as a contestant for the city's "smallest building addition" award. Water Street Coffee Joint (Oakland Drive location) is getting a new drive-through (likely triggered by COVID-19). That small wedge is literally the entire addition - maybe 50 SF total - Source: Instagram | @waterstreetcoffee

MLive shared some more photos provided by WMU of their Arcadia Flats residence. You can view all of the photos here. I filtered out a few interior views. The lofted units are particularly interesting - Source: MLive | WMU

Holland (Township) - HOM Flats at Felch Street is scheduled to break ground this Spring. While the architecture is underwhelming, it will bring 114 apartments to the area, a mix of "affordable" and market-rate units. This is the same developer - Magnus Capital Partners - that is behind the new, similarly-styled HOM Flats at Maynard - which was just approved in Grand Rapids. Source: Ionia Sentinel-Standard | Courtesy Magnus Capital Partners

Downtown GR Inc. continues to feature outdoor art installations that are a part of the city's ongoing "World of Winter" initiative. The "Impulse" art installation in Monroe North looks particularly awesome against the backdrop of new development - "The Singing Tree" - Canal Park, Monroe North Neighborhood - Source: LinkedIn | Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. "Impulse" - 555 Monroe, Monroe North Neighborhood - Source: LinkedIn | Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.

Thanks for the Holland & Zeeland updates! Grand Haven - The Grand Haven City Planning Commission gave its final site plan approval on Tuesday for the 133-unit Peerless Flats development - Source: Second Wave Media | Courtesy Rendering And - speaking of cleaning up waterfronts - in Muskegon -

Advia Credit Union's HQ is really coming together. A few photos from a few days ago - Source: LinkedIn | Byce & Associates, Inc.

Here's a fun little "Topping Out Ceremony" video for Harrison Circle Apartments. It's very Kalamazoo / Midwest in every respect - the grey skies, the corny music, the grit, the niceness, the resident stray cat in the job trailer... just watch it, it's short! If this doesn't make you smile... Bonus: there's a brief (but impressive) shot of the city skyline at 0:14 seconds -

Neat. It has been closed a while then - since the early 1980's, after a merger with a business in Alabama. Here's an undated image (circa post-WW2?) - Source: migenweb.org

This would be a pretty significant development, if / once all phases are complete. I'm not 100% sure, but per the rendering below, it kind of looks like the existing masonry building on the NE corner of the lot would be saved and repurposed - Source: MiBiz | Courtesy Rendering

New transition housing to serve Battle Creek's homeless population has been announced. The project would include a new 55-unit housing development on the empty lot at 535 W Van Buren St. The project is still in the "early phases" of development. A recent survey concluded that Calhoun County had more 1,100 homeless -

Crain's just did an article on MSU's Innovation Park. It includes a recent aerial view of the campus, with the u/c Doug Meijer Building - Source: Crain's | Courtesy Rockford Construction / Health Innovation Partners What a difference with this block, now vs. then. This is an aerial view of the former Grand Rapids Press building, before its demolition to make way for MSU's Innovation Park. It is a quarter-turn from the above photos, but you can still see the difference - Source MLive Now picture the current photos with Perrigo's new HQ in place (I don't think these night renderings have been posted here yet) - Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy Rockford Construction Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy Rockford Construction

Saw this last night - The approved proposal will now consist of (60) 1-BR units, (92) 2-BR's, and (88) 3-BR's. It looks even less inspiring than the Studio 28 redevelopment. Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy Magnus Capital Partners

Here's a few more photos of Catalyst's 180 E. Water St. / CD-12, through the lenses of the concrete contractor. Some of these are from "inside of the fence" - and you do get a peak at some of the near-finished interior office areas - Source: LinkedIn | Grand River Construction, Inc.

Chik-fil-A Grand Opening - Thursday, 01/14/2021 - I must say, they did a good job keeping congestion off of W. Main. But at one point, I saw the car line extending all the way through the adjacent Westwood Plaza parking lot, down to Cold Stone. Probably 50 - 60 cars. My hope is that once the hype settles down, this Chik-fil-A will alleviate some of the congestion at Popeyes across the street, where cars will sit on W. Main with their hazards on, as well a the traffic at the Portage Chik-fil-A location. Probably not though - Source: Instagram | @treystarinc I spotted this fuzzy rendering of the new Milwood Kalsee Credit Union that will be built at the corner of Portage and Cork. I don't mind the funky architecture but I will really miss the mid-century fire station building that they are demolishing to make way for this. Source: Instagram | kalseecu This was a little surprise - apparently Treystar is remodeling the second floor of 151 E Michigan Ave. They call it the Monroe Building, but I know it has the former Kalamazoo Savings Bank building. I don't know what they're planning to do with the first floor, which currently serves as the field offices for CSM Group's CD-12 / 180 E. Water St. crew. Presumably they will do a lot of interior wall partition demo to open up the floor area similar to the second floor - Source: LinkedIn | Treystar Source: Treystar Treystar is also apparently remodeling the atrium in the Main Street East building, which they've already "remodeled" several times in the recent past. It looks like this attempt is a little more involved though - new paint, some accent flooring, new furnishings, and perhaps new railings and accent lighting at each level - Source: LinkedIn | Treystar

Frederik Meijer Gardens held a ribbon cutting on Monday, January 11, 2021 for their new welcome center. It took a long time (under construction since 2017), but it looks like it was worth the wait! More photos at the article link below - Source: Cory Morse | MLive

Cascade - The former Cascade Commons is being converted into a new Operations Center for Northpointe Bank. The design architect, Ghafari Associates, shared these progress photos a week ago - Source: Instagram | @ghafari_associates Cascade - The former Cascade Commons is being converted into a new Operations Center for Northpointe Bank. The design architect, Ghafari Associates, shared these progress photos a week ago - Source: Instagram | @ghafari_associates

You can really start to see the transformative effect that this new retail space will have along Lyon - Source: Instagram | @downtowngrinc

With Arcadia Flats officially open and the new student center & dining facilities under construction, demolition work promptly began on WMU's Draper and Siedschlag Halls yesterday. The complex was built in 1950, meaning it served in its roll as residences & dining services for over 70 years. Eventually, new student housing and other university facilities will be built here as Western continues to aggressively pursue its "Hilltop Village" Capital Project, which will completely transform the entire southern portion of the main campus. WMU's facilities maintenance website already has the dorms noted as razed in 2021. These photos are from yesterday and today, via Instagram - Source: Instagram | @facilities_wmu Source: Instagram | @facilities_wmu Source: Instagram | @facilities_wmu Source: Instagram | @facilities_wmu Here's the concept images for the Hilltop Village Capital Project - Source: WMU Not too far away, locals successfully purchased 11.8 acres of wooded land adjacent to WMU's Kleinstuck Preserve in October 2020, effectively preserving it from the possibility of commercial development (which was seeming more and more likely). Their successful land acquisition effectively increases the natural area of the existing 48 acre preserve to almost 60 acres of land in the Westnedge Hill neighborhood. Source: Second Wave Media | Nate Fuller

Haven't walked around Kalamazoo in a while... here's a few photo updates from today - Harrison Circle Apartments, already topped out. That's the beauty of prefabricated construction - Graphic Packaging's massive industrial expansion. The road is closed and monitored, so I could only catch this slice of it - 180 E Water St. / Haymarket Plaza - Bonus - the new Portland Loo, adjacent to 180 E Water St - No one ever shows pictures of the inside. But I tried it out. Remarkably clean so far. I don't know how they keep the toilet water from freezing. Maybe the bowl is heated :shrug: Our own little slice of the Little Caesar's HQ - Construction work is ongoing for the restaurant that will replace Zazios (in the Radisson) - Home2 Suites - The ghost of 302 Academy - Last, and least importantly, the new Chick-fil-A, at the corner of West Main & Drake. This opens on 1/14/2021, and it is the first one in Kalamazoo City, and only the second in the region (one opened in Portage a few years ago). There are already people in line (kidding, but probably won't be long). Police are planning to be on hand to direct traffic -

^ This looks really, really ambitious. Muskegon is hot right now, but it all seems to be moving too fast for something not to hit a snag soon. We will see.

^ The restaurant is rebranded as MDRD - a moniker that might not age too well. I think it's meant to be a play on the word "Madrid" but it looks an awful lot like MRDR a.k.a. "Murder"

Speaking of Arcadia Flats, it officially opened to students on Monday, January 4. I coincidentally just saw this on MLive after my earlier post. Virtual classes resume on January 11. These are very sharp looking residences that will make practically every other on-campus housing option blush (with the exception of the still fairly new Hall-Archer-Pickard residences) - Source: MLive | Joel Bissell

Just a quick pic - yesterday, WMU posted a current aerial photo showing construction progress on their new Student Center & Dining Facility project - it is really starting to come together now. Bonus - you can catch the rear-view of Arcadia Flats (darkest building) in the distance - Source: Instagram | @wmubuild

Studio Park Lofts - Source: Instagram | @studioparkloftsgr